Global Warming Solutions

I recycle; I've got a geyser blanket...what more do you want from me?

Great! It's wonderful that you are involved, and that you are a member of the growing group of people who want to live and grow sustainably.
But just take a moment to go through our Sustainable Living Check List to see if there are any new ideas or ways of being and doing that you can try out.
And don't forget to talk about climate change and global warming. Keep it topical by discussing it with your children, your colleges, your friends. Ask people what they are doing about this enormous challenge in their own lives, and tell them about the steps that you have taken towards becoming sustainable. Let's encourage each other to keep moving forward, taking innovative and creative steps towards solving a global temperature crisis.

Global Warming is just a form of mass-hysteria. It has absolutely no bearing on my life.

Global warming is just another hoax to get the consumer to spend money on useless products. I'm not falling for it!

Why we aren't buying it

Dissent and discussion of a critical issue like global warming is vital. We need to question the information being given to us through the media and through government. Who stands to gain? Who is footing the bill? Who has control of this debate?
But to take a sceptical view of global warming is to take a radical stand in a moral issue. More lives could be lost through climate change in the coming decades than any world war or natural disaster. And the poor, as usual, stand to suffer the most. So before you dismiss global warming as a hoax, be sure to do your homework, and be sure that you are completely satisfied that there is no grounding in what organisations such as the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change and Nasa are saying to the public.
Because the joke might be on you. Oil companies such as X and X are employing scientists to generate scepticism and cause us to doubt that carbon emissions have any effect on the climate. They have a lot invested in the status quo: a lot of money. And this doubt-machine produces enough vague and contradictory information for the public to cling to in order not to take a stand against an un-sustainable global capitalist system.
People don't want to change their lifestyles. They don't want to have to give up driving two cars, or start a lift club to and from work. Consumers don't want to worry about the amount of packaging grocery stores use on the food we eat, and they don't want to pay for new appliances that use less electricity and have less impact on levels of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. They don't want to stand up to companies like Eskom and demand a cleaner process of energy production. People just want to come out on their salary at the end of the month, raise their children and pursue their personal dreams and ambitions, without taking on the burden of the future of life on the planet. It's understandable.
So what would motivate you to take an interest? There is blinding evidence that the kind of changes we can expect if carbon emissions are not capped will change your way of life in most unpleasant ways. A rise in sea level, increasingly powerful cyclones and tsunamis, drought and flooding are all on the increase world wide. Food and water shortages are already a reality in many parts of the world.
History has shown apathy to be a form of violence. You don't have to agree with the scientific community, but I challenge you to find reasonable evidence that human beings are not causing climate change. And when you find that a sceptical stance holds little water, hurry up and join those that are challenging ineffective forms of fuel and energy production locally and globally. You can make changes in your own life and educate other people. There is plenty to do.

URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT
One of the counter arguments against climate change based arround innacuracy of the measurements.

SOLAR RADIATION IS RESPONSIBLE
Climate change is caused by solar radiation and nothing else. It's a natural cycle and will happen over time.

THE ENTIRE THING IS JUST MASS HYSTERIA
The entire climate change thing is blown completely out of proportion. Absolute tree-hugger madness.

THE CLIMATE MODELS ARE FLAWED
If they can't predict next weeks weather, how can they predict next centuries weather.

ITS UP TO THE GOVERNMENT TO SORT IT OUT

It's the governments responsibility to sort out this mess after all it's what they are there for.

I'm too small to make a difference

It's scary to feel like important changes need to be made, and that you aren't important enough to make them.
History has shown us that social transformation almost always inevitably begins with a few individuals that hold a vision of how things could be in the world. And we are always thankful to those people in hindsight for seeing that things could be different, and refusing to agree to an unacceptable status quo. Thank goodness that there were people who objected to apartheid, or who protested against the Vietnam War. If the citizens alive in Nazi Germany had refused to accept Hitler's violent regime, would so many innocent people have died in the gas chambers?
It may seem overly dramatic to compare the current global warming situation with Nazi Germany, but the earth is warming. The world's icecaps are melting, and if they continue to melt at the current rate, sea levels around the world will rise rapidly. With residential areas, ports and cities under water, social problems that seem important now will be totally overshadowed.
There is no need to feel overwhelmed. Just decide: do I want to be part of a transformation? Then take one little step at a time. Question your current lifestyle choices, and explore what other options are available to you. A change can be as minor as changing the light bulbs in your home, or putting your geyser on a timer-switch. Get an energy audit for your home to find out where you can make the most effective changes.
You may just be one person, but you are a member of a family and a community. Start to ask questions and investigate the current environmental crisis. And then start discussions with people that you know. Tell your children about what you find out.
don't fool yourself: you have enormous power. Use it.

Urban Heat Island

Urban areas are hotter than rural areas. Buildings and pavements hold heat and emit that heat at night. Surely the weather stations located in urban areas are influenced by this increased heat, and are relaying a false sense of global warming. Maybe global warming isn't happening after all.

Why you shouldnt buy it

There has been considerable scientific research on the Urban Heat Island Effect, and it has been found to have a negligible effect on temperature trends. Urban areas are hotter � it's true. But NASA GISS take explicit steps in their analysis to normalize urban station data trends to the surrounding rural stations.

Long time rural records and overall weather station trends have also been compared and very little difference found between them. That is not to say that the Urban Heat Island Effect has no impact on temperature readings, only that the effect is minimal.

Average temperatures have climbed 0.8�C around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that the UHI effect makes at most a contribution of 0.05�C to the warming observed over the last century. So no, we can't use UHI to negate the figures that indicate global warming.

Not convinced?

Urban weather stations are not our only source of information about climate change and global warming. There are diverse and empirical sources of data that tell us in no uncertain terms that our planet is warming.

• Satellite Data

• Radiosondes

• Borehole analysis

• Glacial melt observations

• Sea ice melt

• Sea level rise

• Proxy Reconstructions

• Permafrost melt

The sun is warming the earth's atmosphere!

There are skeptics who argue that greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions aren't the number one baddy when it comes to changing the earth's climate. The logic: the sun is the source of warmth on earth. Any increase in temperature is likely due to changes in solar radiation. They argue that increased solar radiation is warming the earth's atmosphere and causing climate change.

Why you shouldnt buy it

The scientists who argue that the sun is the primary cause of global warming and climate change have been largely discredited. Although it is common knowledge that there are fluctuations in the strength of the sun's radiation, it has been deemed impossible that such small changes could cause global warming on such a large scale. Over the last few centuries, the variation in solar output has been in the order of 0,1%, too small to directly cause the temperature changes we have seen.

There is overwhelming evidence that the buildup of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere is primarily responsible for global warming and climate change. The average global surface temperature has risen by 0,6% in the last 140 years, and is escalating fast.

By putting responsibility for climate change on solar output, individuals and governments can dodge accountability. If the problem stems from human behavior then so does the solution. We urgently need to cap carbon emissions if we are to avoid a large scale climate crisis.

Not convinced?

Urban weather stations are not our only source of information about climate change and global warming. There are diverse and empirical sources of data that tell us in no uncertain terms that our planet is warming.

The Grist takes apart the solar output theory:
• Grist Environmental News

Related news articles:
• BBC News Item

• Live Science Link

• New Science Environment Link

Find out if you know the facts about global warming and climate change:
• BBC News Item

• Channel 4 News Link

What effect has global warming already having?
• Live Science Link

Global Warming is just a form of mass-hysteria

Global warming is just another hoax to get the consumer to spend money on useless products. I'm not falling for it!

Why you shouldnt buy it

Dissent and discussion of a critical issue like global warming is vital. We need to question the information being given to us through the media and through government. Who stands to gain? Who is footing the bill? Who has control of this debate?

But to take a sceptical view of global warming is to take a radical stand in a moral issue. More lives could be lost through climate change in the coming decades than any world war or natural disaster. And the poor, as usual, stand to suffer the most. So before you dismiss global warming as a hoax, be sure to do your homework, and be sure that you are completely satisfied that there is no grounding in what organisations such as the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change and Nasa are saying to the public.

Because the joke might be on you. Oil companies such as X and X are employing scientists to generate scepticism and cause us to doubt that carbon emissions have any effect on the climate. They have a lot invested in the status quo: a lot of money. And this doubt-machine produces enough vague and contradictory information for the public to cling to in order not to take a stand against an un-sustainable global capitalist system.

People don't want to change their lifestyles. They don't want to have to give up driving two cars, or start a lift club to and from work. Consumers don't want to worry about the amount of packaging grocery stores use on the food we eat, and they don't want to pay for new appliances that use less electricity and have less impact on levels of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. They don't want to stand up to companies like Eskom and demand a cleaner process of energy production. People just want to come out on their salary at the end of the month, raise their children and pursue their personal dreams and ambitions, without taking on the burden of the future of life on the planet. It's understandable.

So what would motivate you to take an interest? There is blinding evidence that the kind of changes we can expect if carbon emissions are not capped will change your way of life in most unpleasant ways. A rise in sea level, increasingly powerful cyclones and tsunamis, drought and flooding are all on the increase world wide. Food and water shortages are already a reality in many parts of the world.

History has shown apathy to be a form of violence. You don't have to agree with the scientific community, but I challenge you to find reasonable evidence that human beings are not causing climate change. And when you find that a sceptical stance holds little water, hurry up and join those that are challenging ineffective forms of fuel and energy production locally and globally. You can make changes in your own life and educate other people. There is plenty to do.

Climate Models are flawed and cannot predict the future

If climate models can't predict the weather in two weeks, how can they possibly predict the weather in the next twenty years? And if we don't know that changes are going to be negative, then why put all this energy into reducing emissions and changing our lifestyle? It might be a complete waste of time.

Why you shouldnt buy it

There may be a question of how the climate will change, but there is no question of if or why changes will occur.

All scientists believe in the greenhouse effect. And all scientists accept that if humans put more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere then it will warm the planet. The only disagreement is over precisely how much the warming will be amplified by planetary feedbacks.

What is a planetary feedback? One example is �ace-albedo' feedback. As the world warms, ice caps will melt, to be replaced by water or land. Ice is very efficient at reflecting solar radiation, whereas water and land are less so. Therefore the earth's surface will trap more heat, increasing global warming. This constitutes a positive feedback that is relatively easy to estimate.

There are other, less predictable forms of feedback. For instance: how much influence will extra water vapour, likely to enter the atmosphere as a result of increased rates of evaporation, have on global warming? The added water vapour may contribute to the greenhouse effect. Or it may increase cloud cover, shrouding and cooling the earth � a negative feedback.

At the end of the day, climate models are limited by the linear mathematics upon which they are based. But the unpredictable nature of climate change should make us even more committed to reducing carbon emissions that we produce through burning fossil fuels. While scientists may not be able to exactly predict the fallout of sky-rocketing increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, they can say for certain that unless we reduce emissions, climatic changes will be occurring on a grand scale. And the influence of runaway climate change will have a drastic effect on all life on the planet.

Waiting around for exact figures and predictions in the face of overwhelming scientific consensus about global warming and climate change doesn't make rational sense. It's a bit like waiting for a diagnosis of lung cancer before giving up cigarettes. Lets get stuck in and see what we can do about this challenge.

Surely this is governments responsibility

Scientific evidence suggests that global warming should be at the forefront of every government's agenda. A range of consequences are predicted as a result of the current rise in global temperature: rising sea levels; droughts; tsunamis and flooding. These kinds of natural events are already occurring in different international contexts, and are likely to escalate.

In an ideal world the South African government would have a handle on runaway climate change, and be doing everything in their power to limit the burning of fossil fuels. The current Eskom disaster is evidence that basic power and energy provision has not been the top of the government's agenda. It is also entangled with and reliant upon heavy industry, which is the top national producer of carbon dioxide.

The initiatives that the government and other organizations have put forward require an enormous amount of co-operation from citizens and businesses throughout South Africa. To make changes we need to take initiative and make new lifestyle choices.

To palm off responsibility onto government is to undermine the real power that we have as individuals and consumers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and spread awareness about climate change and global warming. Inform yourself, get involved, and lets partner with government in creating a more sustainable future for another generation.